Page 79 of Wolf Alliance

Then the men put the three dead men on their horses and followed her to where the peat bog was. They left the villains in the bog and took their horses.

She led them to the campsite after that. As soon as they arrived, everyone looked shocked to see her, another she-wolf, and four men on horseback arrive in camp. The men told them what their mission had been before Accalia and Davina had come to their aid, while the boys hugged Accalia’s neck, and tears of joy filled her eyes.

She licked their faces and then she and her aunt went into their tent. She gave her aunt some clothes to wear, and once her aunt had shifted and they were both dressed, they left the tent.

Accalia explained what had happened, though the men they had freed had been talking about the situation while the ladies dressed. They didn’t know what Erik and the others had done. She described how they had been forced to go with the other men as a ruse to infiltrate Whitehaven and learn what was going on with her and Erik and when she would be returning home.

“We wanted to go with Accalia back to Hillshire Castle and help Erik, Alasdair, and Baldur battle against Freigard’s and Dunbar’s men,” one of the men said, “but she has the right of it. If we return, they’ll believe we killed the guards and Horse. And we would be put to death. Our families would be an example to anyone who might rise against Freigard.”

“’Twas our own Accalia and her aunt who had taken out two of the men, and helped us with the third,” another of the men said, sounding like he deeply admired them for it. Probably because they hadn’t done anything to deal with the matter before that.

But she understood that because they hadn’t been armed and were being watched.

The boys looked on at her in awe. Bessetta smiled at her. Isobel inclined her head, telling her she had done well.

Accalia hugged her aunt, proud of how she had handled the situation herself.

“I want to return with you,” her aunt said.

“These boys are now my sons. You are their great aunt. I need you to be here for them. You’ve proven what an excellent warrior you can be,” Accalia said. “I need to take more men back with me to the keep though. Who will come with me?”

They still had to have a force here to protect the boys and the other women if any brigands showed up, but if Erik, Alasdair, and her da died because they didn’t have enough men to overwhelm Freigard’s forces, all would be lost.

“We will help to guard the women and lads,” one of her people said.

“We’ll send a dozen men, a mix of Erik’s and Alasdair’s,” Finlay said, Hans agreeing.

She knew they would want to help their brothers, not sit back at the camp, waiting for word. She also knew Alasdair and Erik would be furious with them if something had happened to the boys and Isobel and Bessetta because their brothers hadn’t remained there to ensure their safety.

“Then let’s go. We will do as before. We’ll ride, then a couple of men will return with the horses, while the rest of us will make it to the tunnel system,” she said.

“Be safe, Accalia,” her aunt said, hugging her.

The boys hugged Accalia soundly, tears filling their eyes. Then Bessetta and Isobel embraced her and wished her well.

Davina said, “You keep them all safe, and we will do the same here.”

“Aye.” Determined to do everything to make that happen, Accalia mounted her horse, armed again, and headed out with the dozen men.

“Do you trust the men you freed?” one of the men with her asked.

“Aye. But if they cause trouble, Finlay and Hans will take care of them. They will have them watched, not leaving anything to chance.”

Then they rode in silence. All she could do was pray that their people were victorious, maybe even that Freigard was already dead, and her people had helped Erik and Alasdair to take the castle back.

After riding for an hour, she repeated what she’d done before. Two men returned to the camp with their horses, the others moving through the woods as humans, all but two who ran with her as wolves to further protect her.

She hoped they could return in time to help and that they wouldn’t discover her mate, and the others had fallen at the hands of Freigard and his men.

22

Erik and his party went after Freigard’s men guarding the wall walk to take them down before anyone could alert Freigard and the rest of his cohorts. They crept up on the first man leaning against the wall, looking out at the forest. The other two guards were out of sight. Erik cut into the man’s throat before he could react. The problem was Freigard’s men were gray wolves, so they could hear as well as Erik and their men.

The guard dropped to the stone floor dead, his brown eyes lifeless. Erik and another of the men with him lifted the dead guard over the wall and dropped him to the ground below. That’s when Erik saw Accalia as a wolf, leading some of Alasdair’s men and his own into the woods to the tunnels. Another dozen. They could sure use them. He was glad she was still unharmed.

Though he hadn’t expected her to return to her da’s castle and would have preferred her to stay out of danger, he was relieved by the extra help. Their men wouldn’t have known where the tunnels were without her escorting them there.

As soon as the guard fell to the earth, she glanced at the wall, and so did the men with her, but they continued moving to the tunnel's hidden entrance. It was good that they were taking down the guards on the wall walk, or one of them might have seen Accalia and her party.

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